1ST SHOOT

Initial shots

 

My 1st influence for my viewpoint of long exposure is Alex Wise who uses many long exposure techniques. I personally like the pictures that he takes because of how well the light streams have turned out and the background in which he took them against. This gives the pictures a futuristic sense of speed.

For my 1st shoot I went out to the coast and setup on the edge of a main road where I knew there was a lot of traffic so it would be brilliant for my long exposure idea, especially the light streams as it was late so the car lights would show. I took my Nikon d3200 with a 18-55mm lens and a tripod. I set my exposure for 8 seconds as this would catch a good amount of light for the light streams and wouldn't catch too much light as that may have over exposed the image. I positioned my camera and tripod where there was a curve in the road, this is so the light stream wouldn't be straight and so I'd get an interesting angle. The tripod was very helpful as this would keep the image in focus because with the long exposure if the camera isn't still it will blur. 

 

Some of my shots didn't go well. Firstly, with my first shot I timed the car wrong. This ended up having the light stream only going halfway across the image, but I wanted it to go across the whole image. Also, image 3 and 4 came out blurred. This is because the tripod wasn't tightened enough so the camera moved slightly and blurred the image. However, images 9 and 8 came out really well because the light streams go the whole way across the road. Also, the image isn't blurred and so the image is sharper. Lastly, I managed to get the red lights on the back a car and the front lights in the same image which gave a really unique effect and brings more colour to the image. But I only managed to take these photos in Barton On Sea which is nothing like the city of Melbourne with the cities skyline and mass amount of traffic. For my next shoot I hope to either go to a bigger town or city, but maybe just to a busier area as this will give a better futuristic sense of speed as there should be more traffic and lighting.

 Best edit

This image worked really well, firstly this is because I timed the traffic really well with the 8 second long exposure, this meant the light streams came out really well as they were strong and spread across the whole road. In addition to, the scenery is well in focus, therefore it gives a better contrast with the light streams as it has a sharper effect. Subsequently, showing that unique, futuristic sense of speed. Also, I increased the saturation of the image so the light streams given off by the vehicles are brighter and bring more colour to the image. Lastly, I decreased the temperature so the light streams given off by the front lights of the cars would become a brighter blue instead of a dull yellow, therefore the image will be brighter and more colourful.

                                                                        Editing

For my best edit I opened by chosen image in camera raw.

Firstly I decreased the temperature so it would change the light streams from a dull yellow to a bright blue. This gives a better futuristic and modern effect which I wanted to give.

Secondly, I increased the recovery slightly. This made the light streams sharper and not so bright, therefore not over exposing the image.

My last piece of editing on the image was increasing the saturation. This brought more colour to the image, especially to the light streams. Subsequently, the light streams are stronger and stand out more, adding to the futuristic effect.